Door holder



Feb. 24, 1953 E. H. SHERMAN' 2,629,617

DOOR HOLDER Filed Feb. 10, 1951 IVEN'I'OR EFIRL H. SHE/wan! BY qm TTORNEY Patented Feb. 24, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR HOLDER Earl H. Sherman, Oakland, Calif.

Application February 10, 1951, Serial No. 210,315

3 Claims.

The invention relates to a device for releasably securing a swinging door in open position.

An object of the invention is to provide a door holder which is particularly applicable to sidehinged doors for the load-carrying compartments of delivery vehicles for releasably holding such doors open against an unintended closing thereof.

Another object is to provide a door-holding device of the character described which may be operative solely between the door and a vehicle part without obstructing the doorway.

A further object is to provide a door holder which is optionally usable to releasably secure a door in a predetermined limiting open position thereof or in a selected intermediate open position thereof.

Yet another object is to provide a door holder of the character described which is of particularly simple and effective structure, and which is arranged for its operative installation with particular readiness.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth or be apparent in the following description of a typical embodiment thereof, and in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the present door-holder as operatively installed with respect to an opened door adjacent its top.

Figure 2 is a plan View of the installation of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the structural combination of Figure 2 in which the door is in closed position.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the operative door-holder.

Figure 5 is a side view taken at the line 55 in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken at the line 6-6 in Figure 4.

For illustrating a particularly useful application thereof, the present door holder has been shown as operative between a door it and the top frame portion 8 of a fragmentarily shown doorway provided by a frame having a side jamb portion 9 at which the door it is attached by suitable hinges ll. The present doorway may be that for the access door to the body I2 of a truck or merchandise-delivery vehicle, it being noted that doors of such vehicles frequently need to be positively held open against a closing urge such as that of wind pressure or gravity or accidental contact. The door frame and door structures may be of any suitable materials such as wood and/or metal, and may have the fixed parts of a present door-holding unit attached thereto by screws or bolts or welding, as is appropriate to the mounting structure.

The present holder assembly essentially comprises a guide bar I4 fixedly carried on the inner side of the door l!) by and between spaced angle brackets l5 and IS, the bar 14 being of uniform cross-section and being disposed in parallel relation to the opposed door face Ill and in a plane perpendicular to the hinging axis of the door. A head I! hingedly mounted at one extremity of a link it slidably receives the bar M therethrough adjacent the hinging axis of the door and has its other end hinged to a bracket member I 9 which is fixed behind the door seat of the door frame to provide for a swinging of the link I8 in said plane between its extended position of Figures 1 and 2 and its withdrawn position of Figure 3.

In the present structure, the bracket l9 has a base portion riveted to the metallic top frame member 8' and mounts 2. depending pintle 20 which has its lower end rotatably and supportingly engaged through the inner end of the link l8 as an anchoring pivot therefor in the plane of swinging of the link. Since, however, the pintle 28 is arranged to provide its anchoring connection with the link [8 at a point which is behind the seat for the door and is relatively close to the door jamb 9 at which the door is hinged, it will be understood that the pintle might be mounted on a suitable support below the top frame member 8', it being primarily desirable that all parts of a present door-holding assembly may be concealed behind the closed door.

It will now be noted that the present head member I! comprises a one-piece element having a tubular portion 2| which slidably receives the bar I t in its bore and provides a pair of laterally extending spaced ears 22 receiving the outer link end between them for a hinged connection thereto of the link end by a hinge pin 23 extending through the ears and link end for a relative g the portion 28.

swinging of the door and link in the aforesaid plane. Base arms l5 and it of the brackets l5 and I5 respectively are provided with transverse holes for receiving bolts or screws 24 for securing the brackets against the inner face It of the door 5 B, and the bar M has one end welded or otherwise fixed to the other arm KB of the bracket 5. The outstanding arm Id" of the bracket it receives a threaded end portion of the bar [4 therethrough and is releasably fixed to the bar by and between clamp nuts 25 and 26 threadedly engaging the bar end portion the-reat.

A helical compression spring 21 receives the bar M through it and extends from the'nut 25whereby it may be engaged by the opposed end of the portion 2| of the head ll as a yielding stop or bumper to limit and cushion the inward move ment of the head toward the bracket l5 resulting from the opening movement of the door. The arrangement is essentially such that the headil' may be freely moved outwardly, along the bar and toward, but not to, the bracket I5 as the door is closed from the limiting open position imposed on it by the stop spring 2?. If desired, the end of. thehelical spring 2'! which engages the nut 25 may be secured to this nut for preventing any travel. of the spring along the bar it.

A detent means is preferably provided for preventing an inadvertent closing of the fully opened door; wind pressure or an accidental moderate blow against the outer side of the open door may urge itsunwante'd closing, or the vehicle may be so.disposed on a sloping support surface that gravity urges the closing of the door. Asparticularly shown, a generally L.-shaped leaf-spring detent member 28 has a base arm portion 2 8 thereofreceiving the bar through it and clamped to the arm [6" of the bracket it by the nut 26.- The other arm. 28" of the spring 28 ex,- tends opposite andlalong the bar M in spaced and generally parallel relation toit, and is formed with a transverse a'rcuate terminal detent offset 28'extending toward the guide bar i l. The spring 23 is preferably backed by a suppl mentary leaf spring'fiil having a base portion 30 disposed opposite and along 'the'base portion 28' of the spring 28 and secured in place between the nut 28 and The arm portion 39" of the spring 3il'extends along'the arm 28" of the spring 28 to an intermediate point thereof whereby the spring assembly is relatively stiffer at the supplementary spring 30.

A radial projection 32is provided by the sliding head H for its releasably held engagement by the spring detent offset 29in the general manner of a hook when the door is open to its desired limit. As particularly shown, the projection 32 comprises an integral portion of the head, extends radially of the tubular head portion 21in a line-which is parallel to the hinging axis of the link [3 'provided'by the pin 23 through the he'ad'ears 22, and is conically tapered to a rounded'end'for its wedging engagement with'the inner and outer side faces 23 and 29 of the hook offset 29 for displacing the offset as it moves along the spring 28 during an open or closing movement of the door.

The present detent arrangement cooperatively provided by the hook-offset 29 and the projection 32' is essentially such that a closing urge on the secured open door exceeding the value determined by the-effective resistance of the spring assembly 28-30 may cause-the projection 32 to wedgedly force the oifset hook portion 29 of the spring 28 outwardly of its point to release the door, and a return movement of the door to its fully open position is arranged to wedgedly engage the projection 32 behind the inner face 29" of the hook offset 29 to provide for an antirattling holding engagement of the projection 32 behind said offset by the combined functioning of the ofiset and the stop spring 21. Alternatively, the head may be released from the hook 29 by manually pulling out on the spring 28 at its free end.

Means are provided whereby the door may be held in other than its limiting open position or be positively held in the latter position against its unintended closing: by the action offwind or gravity. As particularly shown, the head member I1 is provided with a suitably headed set screw 33 mounted in its tubular portion 2| and extending radially of its bore and arranged for direct clamping action against the guide bar M as may be-desired or required. In the present structure, the set screw 33 is provided in diametrically opposite relation to the detent projection32 of the head, and is particularly shown as extending upwardly .from the head while said detentprojection extends downwardly from the head to engage the detent projection 23 of the then underlying spring 28.

Noting that a present head ll is of symmetrical form-with respect to a central plane perpendicular to its rod-receivingbore including the hinging axis for the link !8 and the center linesof the projection 32 andof-th set-screw 33, an endto-end reversal of the-head on the bar l4 provides for the depending extension'of the'set-screw 33 for its readier access to a person standing on the ground below the open door, the detent projection 32 then extending upwardly of the guide bar axis. Aside from the question of a preferred disposal of the set-screw 33 orof the detent projection 32, the end-to-end reversibility of asymmetrical head IT on the bar 14 is also understood to permit an operative'installationof the same head on a right-hand door as illustrated, or on a left-hand door, whereby a set of the present door-ho1der elements may be the same for both right-hand and left-hand doors, as is commercially advantageous.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the present door-holder will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains." While Ihave described the-structure and use of a-form of my invention which I now consider to comprise a preferred embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the showing is primarily illustrative, and that such changes and developments may be made, when desired, as fall within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a door mounted for its swinging about an upright axis between closed and open positions with respect to a seat therefor provided by a doorway, a guide bar, mutually spaced inner and outer brackets mounted on the door at its inner face and cooperatively supporting said guide bar in generally radial relation to the swinging axis of the door, a head member providing a bore slidably receiving the guide bar portion between the brackets, a link hinged at one end thereof to said head .for swinging in a plane including the-guide bar axis and perpendicular to the swinging axis of the door, means pivotally anchoring the other link end at a fixed point with respect to the doorway, a conically tape'ied radial projection on said head extending in a line parallel to the axis of hinging of the link to the head in a plane including said axis, and a spring detent member carried by the inner bracket and providing a detent hook arranged to resiliently and yieldingly engage the outer side of said head projection to normally and releasably retain the head in a limiting inner position thereof.

2. A structure in accordance with claim I having a set-screw mounted in the head at the opposite side of the head from the projection and operative against the bar in the line of the projection.

6 3. A structure in accordance with claim I having the common plane of the head projection and the link-hinging axis at the head equidistant from the head ends.

EARL H. SHERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,794,477 Sodergren Mar. 3, 1931 2,352,016 Sasgen June 20, 1944 

